Japan sweeps 2017 Asian Champs

Japan sweeps 2017 Asian Champs

Japan sweeps 2017 Asian Champs

Japan sweeps 2017 Asian Champs

The International Skyrunning Federation represents the governing authority of skyrunning - defined as mountain running above 2,000m over extremely technical trails. Three disciplines define the sport which are not just based on distance, but vertical climb and technical difficulty: Sky, Ultra and Vertical.

“Skyrunning” has been around for some time. Hundreds, even thousands of years ago mountains were negotiated out of necessity: war, religious persecution, hunting, smuggling, or just out of plain old curiosity. The concept of running up and down mountains for fun is much newer. Take for example the Ben Nevis Race which goes back to 1903, or the Pikes Peak Marathon which began as a bet in 1954 among smokers and non smokers.

From sea to sky, skyrunning spans the great outdoors, across the world’s mountain ranges…and the imagination of thousands of participants and fans. It’s a sport born in the wild, where the logic was to reach the highest peak in the shortest time from a town or village. Today it represents the peak of outdoor running defined by altitude and technicality and counts some 200 races worldwide with with around 50,000 participants from 65 countries.

The International Skyrunning Federation has developed a label to recognize races with an official “stamp of approval”. The project, aimed at strongly identifying the characteristics of the sport, was approved at the General Assembly in 2017.Various factors are taken into consideration, from the basic parameters of distance, vertical climb, altitude, etc to the quality of the field, the finishing time as well as a specially developed algorithm.

The final of the 2017 Skyrunning Asian Championships took place in Hong Kong Sunday, December 3, at the MSIG Lantau 50 valid for the Ultra titles. No less than eleven Asian countries participated with the gold medals going to Japan and Nepal. The championships counted three categories overall: Vertical, Sky and Ultra. The first two […]

The International Skyrunning Federation (ISF) is pleased to announce the 2018 Skyrunning World Championships will be hosted by Skyline Scotland from September 13 – 15 in Kinlochleven, Scotland, where three disciplines will be disputed. After four World Championships held in Italy, France and Spain, the Scottish Highlands will welcome skyrunners from across the world to […]

The finals of the 2017 Skyrunning European Championships saw the Czech Republic, Spain and Italy dominate the overall national rankings in Limone sul Garda, Italy, on October 13. After the Ultra and Sky disciplines earlier in the season, it was the turn of the Vertical category. The world’s top specialists from 19 countries gathered to […]

It was the turn of the Sky discipline at the 2017 Skyrunning European Championships held at the Gorbeia Suzien race in Spain’s Basque Country, Saturday, October 7. Spain, Romania and France took the individual medals with Spain taking the entire men’s podium while women’s podium clinched a gold for Romania, a silver for France and […]